‘Spectre’ makes Bond unoriginal again

Some diamonds are not forever.

“Spectre,” directed by Sam Mendes and starring Daniel Craig and Christoph Waltz, is the worst film of Craig’s run as Bond.

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James Bond is back again, and this time a dark secret from his past has come to haunt him. The terrorist organization Spectre is here, led by a mysterious man from Bond’s past, and the secret agent must race against time to stop them and save MI6 from closing.

While this is nowhere near the worst film of the year, it definitely makes “Quantum of Solace” feel like a competent movie.

“Spectre” is full of clichés and overused action tropes.

This can be commonplace for many action films and Bond movies, but that has not been the case for Craig’s Bond films.

Everything from obvious villains on the good side going to the dark side right at the end, to a plot ripped straight from “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” there is nothing original about this film.

The movie tries to add bits of the old, cartoony Bond franchise such as henchman and gadgets with the new addition of gritty, realism. 

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This is not a bad idea. Many older fans want classic Bond tropes in the newer films.

But the filmmakers poorly use all of the old, overdone ideas making it uninteresting. 

“Spectre” also has some of the worst attempts at Bond villains.

Oberhauser, the main antagonist played by Waltz, has no real motivation. He terrorizes for what seems like no reason and his back story is haphazard.

One would think adding Waltz — an Academy Award winning actor — would help, but it’s like they asked him to play a watered-down version of Hans Landa, his character from “Inglorious Basterds.”

The movie is not completely terrible. A lot of the good aspects from previous films carry over and make it bearable.

Craig is still amazing, Mendes can still set up beautiful action set pieces and most of Bond’s supporting characters continue to entertain.      

Stars: 2.5 out of 5.

Jacob Pierce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacobPierce1_DE.     

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